by Everett Bellamy, Special for USA TODAY

by Everett Bellamy, Special for USA TODAY

The Great Recession affected most sectors of the U.S. economy and most professions.

For the legal profession, it had a profound affect. Steven J. Harper's book The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis lays out just how profound the effects have been in his analysis of the problems facing law schools, big law firms and lawyers.

Harper, author of The Partnership: A Novel, shares his perspective as an adjunct law professor and former litigator.

Harper makes a strong case for rethinking the nature of legal education and the current business model for big law firms. The "crisis" as he sees it is the number of students entering law school with no clear idea of the career paths that await them.

He argues that the role top law schools play in putting their graduates in large law firms is misguided, particularly in light of the high turnover rate of associates at big firms (the fifth-year associate turnover rate exceeds 80%).

Harper points to the corporatization of the legal profession and the emphasis on maximizing immediate profits, driven by a desire to move up in trade publication American Lawyer's annual ranking of average profits per equity partner.

He spotlights several factors that have led to lawyer dissatisfaction and a diminished sense of community within law firms: the billable hour system, leverage ratios (the number of associates vs. partners) and non-equity partners vs. equity partners. The historic levels of layoffs in recent years of non-equity partners, associates and staff didn't help matters.

In his view, the legal profession is in danger of losing its primary purpose - high-quality work for clients. According to Harper, several parties are to blame:

â?¢ Law school deans and their lack of candor when recruiting prospective students and their over-reliance on law school rankings;

â?¢ The federal government for guaranteeing all private and public student loans;

â?¢ Big law firms' focus on profits per equity partner to the detriment of associates, non-equity partners and staff.

The bottom line for Harper is there are too many students entering law school. They arrive misguided about the nature of law practice in a big firm. There are too many graduates vs. the number of available legal jobs (almost two to one).

"The number of J.D. (juris doctor) degrees awarded annually grew from 38,000 in 2001 to more than 44,000 in 2011, as universities increasingly saw law schools as profit centers," he writes.

The lure of profit may help explain the increase in the number of law schools in the last few decades. The number of schools accredited by the American Bar Association has increased from 175 in the 1980s to 201 today, according to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC).

Harper goes into detail describing the prevailing big law firm business model, where billable hours, high leverage ratios, high billing rates and growth for the sake of growth rules the day.

In discussing the "bubble," Harper's primary target is the big law firm. To address the profession's crisis, he calls for fundamental change, urging firms to:

â?¢ Revise the billable hour system;

â?¢ Reconsider whether big is better;

â?¢ Reduce the leverage ratio;

â?¢ Recruit law school graduates thoughtfully;

â?¢ Eliminate two-tiered partnerships;

â?¢ Adopt mandatory retirement policies.

If law firms don't take action, perhaps market conditions may help deflate the bubble. Recently, there has been a serious drop in the number of law school applications. It's predicted that applications will be down 15% to 25% nationwide this year, according to the LSAC. This year, only four law schools have seen an increase in applications. In contrast, 82 have seen a 30% decline; 62 a drop of at least 20%; and 32 a decline of at least 10%.

If the trend holds through the final months of this year's admission cycle, law schools would see a 38% drop since their peak in 2010. This is probably due to the difficult job market, rising student loan debt and tuition increases.

The author is not totally pessimistic. He does illustrate how some big firms have gotten it right, maintaining a positive environment for mentoring and development of associates. The smart firms are run as a true partnership and not as an elite "equity partner club," where the rich can grow richer.

Harper offers suggestions on dealing with the crisis. Candidly, some students should avoid law school altogether. Or, if they enroll, give more thought to the type of practice that best suits their aspirations. If they're uncertain, seek the advice of honest and forthright law school administrators.

Well-documented with extensive notes, the book covers a lot of ground. Harper writes about the early days of small firms and the bankruptcy of large, global law firms in recent years. Harper enriches the narrative with personal stories of lawyers who had a front role seat watching this story unfold. The book reaches back in time to Christopher Columbus Langdell, the Harvard dean who pioneered the case study method in the 19th century.

The Lawyer Bubble is a must read for managing partners, law school administrators and, most certainly, prospective law students.

Bellamy served as a dean at the Georgetown Law Center for 30 years and continues to teach as an adjunct professor.